Spring was nearing its end, but the Big Ruins did not have any signs of spring. The chirping of insects and birds, as well as the lush greenery, were even more extravagant hopes. This place was lifeless and oppressive. It made people feel as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss, unable to extricate themselves.

The streets of the ancient city were dilapidated. The divine statue outside the city had already stood for 10,000 years, looking into the distance.

In the Longevity Alley, there were all kinds of lifelike wood carvings in a small wood carving shop.

There were plants, birds, animals, mountains and rivers, and the people He Jian had met in his life. They had different expressions, some good and some bad. On top of that, they were very lifelike as if they could come back to life at any time. There was a faint path conception that was difficult to detect.

He Jian sat in the backyard and fetched some water from the well with a wooden bucket. He took out a scoop of the water, which was cold and sweet and could wash away all the dust and desires in a person's heart.

He looked at the sky, and his eyes were a little cloudy as he mumbled softly, "The older one is, the more fearful one is of heaven, and the more one believes in fate. After being in a trance for most of one's life, one would still go back to the original point. As the books say, indeed, you reap what you sow."

As soon as he finished, he stopped talking and just sat in a daze for an hour.

All of a sudden, he straightened his body, opened his shoulders, and straightened his back.

He quickly walked into the small room and dragged out an old wooden box that had been hidden for decades from under a dark pearwood bed. A rotten smell came from the wooden box, which had been bitten by worms and had tiny holes on it. It was as though numerous fine needles had stabbed into it at the same time and with just a slight touch, the entire box would be shattered.

He Jian looked emotional and thought to himself, 'I haven't touched the Meridian Sword, the Chronicle, and the Blood Helianthus for 60 years.' He waved his sleeve lightly.

A creak was heard coming from the box as the lid flew up, revealing a sword case wrapped in rags.

The sword case was dark red and looked ordinary but inside were rare and famous swords in the Big Ruins. They were the Meridian Sword, the Chronicle, and the Blood Helianthus.

This case originally had 6 swords but after He Jian's battle against An Jingyun the Venerable One, who exterminated his clan, 3 of them were taken away. Now, there were only 3 left in the case. Nonetheless, just taking out one of the swords was enough to cause a bloody storm. Who would have thought that there were so many famous swords hidden in this normal sword case?

On this day, the god of swords, who had once turned the elites of the world pale, carried the case once again.

Outside the city, yellow sand was still filling the sky, and a wisp of smoke stood alone in desolation.

Ou Yangming and He Jian walked further away under the lone smoke, gradually disappearing into the sandstorm.

The sandstorm made it difficult for people to open their eyes.

Amidst the sandstorm, Ou Yangming flicked his long sleeves and asked in a low voice, "Senior He, is it far from here to the Mount Return Sword?"

He Jian gently nodded his head and answered, "Of course, it's far. Mount Return Sword is located at the intersection of time and space. If there's no opportunity, it's impossible for one to enter. Besides, there are all kinds of formations and restrictions outside. Back then, I was lucky enough to be able to enter. Now that I think about it, I still have some lingering fear."

As he spoke, he shook his shoulders and the sword case on his shoulder. He continued, "The ancient swords in this case were taken from Mount Return Sword. They followed me and made a name for themselves."

Even so, when he said this, the expression in his eyes dimmed. There were originally 6 longswords in the sword case but now there were only 3 left.

Ou Yangming's observational skills had reached a certain level, so he naturally noticed the old man's expression.

Nevertheless, he did not ask much. People like He Jian did not lack stories, and it was all in the past. Since the old man did not want to talk about it, what would be the point of asking?

Ou Yangming rolled his eyes and brought the topic back to Mount Return Sword. He smiled and asked, "What's the intersection of time and space?"

He Jian quickly calmed down and explained, "Time and space are abstract matters that are the most difficult to describe, but they're so smooth and unified there and aren't abrupt at all. How should I put it? Oh, yes, you can't feel the passage of time nor the change of space."

"This..." Ou Yangming gasped.

He thought to himself, 'Is this really related to Xu Aoran? Then what level has his cultivation base reached?' At this moment, even he felt a faint fear in his heart.

The paths of time and space were too far away for him.

Similar to how a mortal wanted to pluck the stars in the sky, how could this be possible?

Just as Ou Yangming was secretly shocked, a body full of black smoke rushed out.

There was only black in his eyes and not white. It was the purest and deepest black as if it contained the Avici Hell. His body was full of rotting flesh, tattered, and yellow water dripped down along with the black mists. Behind him, a black stripe that looked like it was drawn with ink flickered with a deep light and was very enchanting.

He Jian flicked his finger, causing the sword case to vibrate!

Right at this moment, a cold voice was heard, "Move aside. This is the Black Fog Corpse that ran out from the Black Fog Mountain. It's very poisonous, and you'll die upon contact with it!"

At the same time, a red arrow feather whistled over from afar, tearing open a terrifying opening in the yellow sand that filled the sky. It spun non-stop and all of its spiritual power was concentrated on the arrowhead. With a loud boom, it shot directly into the head of the Black Fog Corpse and exploded. Immediately, faint red blood splattered everywhere.

He Jian and Ou Yangming's expressions changed slightly. They retreated at the same time and with a flick of their sleeves, they got rid of the blood around them.

Their actions were fast and not a single drop of blood stained their bodies.

They looked at each other and saw the bitter smiles in each other's eyes.

The unknown man had acted rashly to save them. If they really wanted to blame him, it really would not make sense.

Following that, a middle-aged man followed behind a 16-year-old young lady and walked over.

This middle-aged man was holding a 3-meters-tall horn bow. His shoulders were broad, and there was a faint pressure between his eyebrows. It was obvious that he had an extraordinary status. As for the young lady, she was wearing a long dress with a red and blue foundation and white as the main tone. Her long hair was tied up, and there was a silver hairpin in it. Her face was full of arrogance, and there was a look of a sneer in her eyes. She raised her chin and was unwilling to speak.

Her cultivation base had also reached that of a Rudimentary Spiritualist, but her aura was mixed, and her Qi was restless. It was clear that she had used medicinal pills to forcefully raise her cultivation base.

Ou Yangming and He Jian had sunk their Qi momentums into the bottom of their hearts, thus the man and the lady could not see through them.

The middle-aged man snorted coldly and said, "This place is close to the Black Fog Mountain, which is incredibly dangerous. With your cultivation bases, it's better that you don't barge in recklessly. There are endless fortunes there, but they're not something that ordinary people can take away." As he said this, he did not even look at Ou Yangming because to him, having lowered himself to speak to such ants and even reminding them of danger was already a blessing that they would not have gotten from cultivating for several lifetimes.

He did not have any bad intentions, but he just did not want to talk to people with lower cultivation bases than him.

After all, this was the Spiritual Realm. The strong were respected, whereas the weak did not have the right to speak. Even their right to live would be stripped away.

Was this not what happened to the villages that were massacred by the foreign races?

If one was weak, one would be massacred, and one's bloodline would be devoured. One would even be captured and brought back to another clan to be nurtured with the rest, who would be harvested like wheat—one batch after another.

In the world of cultivators, ruthlessness was the main theme. Everyone fought for the good fortune of Heaven and Earth, to live forever, and to seek the great path.

As soon as the middle-aged man finished, he and the lady raised their chins and heads slightly. With a proud look, they sped off into the distance.

Ou Yangming rubbed the space between his eyebrows and teased, "I didn't expect the god of swords to be despised."

He Jian's expression was calm and peaceful. There was a kind of indifference where he neither cared about the good things nor his own sorrow. He smiled and responded, "What god of swords? I'm just an old man whose body is half-dead and half-buried in a coffin. Time passes quickly. The past has gone by in the blink of an eye and can't be taken seriously." As he said that, he pulled the shoulder strap up by 2 inches, causing the sword case to move up by 2 inches as he moved.

"If you carry the sword case on your back, aren't you the god of swords?" Ou Yangming looked at He Jian with bright eyes.

He Jian was slightly stunned. Countless faint light arcs overlapped in his eyes and gathered. He smiled bitterly and replied to the young fellow, "I've practiced the sword all my life and carved my heart for the path out of wood, but I still can't see through you, Brother Yu. I'm really ashamed."

Ou Yangming waved his hand repeatedly and spat out the cold air in his chest. "It's not that you can't see through me, Senior He; you just don't want to see through me."

As soon as he finished, his footsteps became light. He lifted his foot lightly, and half of his shoe sank into the fine yellow sand. He stomped forward.

He Jian looked at his back view and felt a bit bitter in his heart. He followed him.

In the depths of his heart, he also wanted to become a Venerable One, but his foundation had already been damaged. What could he do? Despite that, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart. There was endless good fortune within Mount Return Sword.

The last time, he had only obtained an incomplete technique outside the mountain, but it had turned him into an enormous mountain in front of all the Daoist disciples. If he could enter the mountain, would he be able to fix its foundation? His dantian would turn into a lake, and he would be able to enter that mysterious realm to take a look. This was why the old man had taken the initiative to bring Ou Yangming to find Mount Return Sword. It was because he had treated the young fellow as the successor of this powerful sword technique. He could only reach outside the mountain peak previously, but he could enter the mountain with the young fellow.

Everyone had their selfish motives—even Ou Yangming. This was how a person—a real person—was.

With that, they walked forward together. Not long after, a cold and damp wind blew over.

Ou Yangming looked into the distance. All he could see was endless black fog. Numerous storms kept rotating, faintly flickering with black electric arcs.

Outside the black fog, there were plenty of Black Fog Corpses, which were as many as the hairs of an ox. Their eyes were dull without any spirit, and their bodies were emitting black smoke.

Not far from the black fog were 10 naturally formed terraces.

Each of them was several kilometers long and all sorts of strange stripes were engraved on them. One could not help but sigh at the divine workmanship of nature.

On each terrace stood 1,000 people. Their eyes were burning as they looked at the black fog. Their eyes were full of expectation as if they were waiting for something.

"Senior He, what's wrong with those people?" Ou Yangming retracted his gaze, and a strange look appeared in his eyes.

He Jian thought for a while, and the memories in his mind flipped like pages of a book. At the spur of the moment, he froze and answered, "Brother Yu, this is the Black Fog Mountain. It's the only way to get to that place. Back then, I had to suffer a lot before I could get through. The weirdest thing is that there's a huge spring in the depths of the black fog. Every 3 months, the spring will erupt and many spiritual treasures will emerge from underground."